Rockwell Automation extends a remote hand

The Rockwell Automation Inc. call center in Mayfield Village figures prominently in this Wall Street Journal story about companies that sell remote monitoring services to help manufacturers fix or prevent problems.“These services, which have become more feasible as factories have become more computerized, help companies deal with skill shortages,” the newspaper reports.The story begins by noting that Rick Bussey, an engineer at International Paper Co.'s mill in Ticonderoga, N.Y., “used to get calls in the middle of the night when machinery broke down” and often “had to drive six miles to the plant to help sort out the problem.”But those calls “have become much less frequent in recent years,” Mr. Bussey tells The Journal, as International Paper now pays Rockwell Automation to keep an eye on the paper-making machinery around the clock with workers at gray cubicles in Mayfield Village, about 500 miles away.From the story:The International Paper mill is connected to Rockwell engineers in Cleveland via a dedicated phone line. When they spot a problem, the Rockwell engineers advise people in the mill on what to do. "They can do almost anything," said Mr. Bussey.Without this help, International Paper probably would need to hire another engineer, Mr. Bussey said. International Paper won't say how much it pays Rockwell for the monitoring. "It's not cheap," said Mr. Bussey, "but we believe it justifies itself."The goal is "to tell them they're about to have a problem before they have a problem," said Gary Pearsons, Rockwell's global head of customer support. Rockwell engineers in Cleveland recently were able to use pressure data gathered from inside an oil rig in Alaska to tell an oil company it needed to check an air filter.

This and that

Could be worse: Forbes.com produces an overview of job, population and GDP growth prospects for various regions of the United States for the next decade, and the outlook for the Great Lakes, while not great, isn't as dire as you might imagine.

“Employment is growing again thanks to a mild renaissance in manufacturing, paced by an improving auto industry and a shale boom in parts of Ohio,” according to the website. “The region has many underappreciated assets, such as the largest number of engineers in the nation, ample supplies of fresh water and some of the nation's best public universities. With 58 million people, it boasts an economy on a par with that of France.”But in the end, Forbes.com says, “We cannot expect much future population growth in the Great Lakes, the second most populous American nation. Its population is aging rapidly, and the percentage under 5 is almost as low as the Northeast.”The lap of luxury:This is certainly a different way to watch a football game, made possible by the mortgage giant Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert built.Our sister publication, Crain's Detroit Business, reports that 62 new luxury seats at Ford Field that include their own high-def televisions “are for the exclusive use of Quicken Loans Inc. as part of a new five-year sponsorship deal announced today between the online mortgage lender and Detroit Lions.”The "Quicken Loans Dream Seat" section is 54 “overstuffed black leather recliners embroidered with the Detroit-based company's logo, and with large high-definition LCD televisions mounted in front of each seat,” according to Crain's Detroit.Another eight "premium" seats will be in the first row directly above the player tunnel to the field.The seats are not directly available to the general public.

Hey Monea!, a rock band from Canton, is one of the beneficiaries of a move by big brands to get into the music business, according to this story from Forbes.com.

The website notes that the band is one of the latest signees to Hard Rock Records. (They should play the Hard Rock Rocksino.)“A little more than a year ago, the worldwide hotel and restaurant chain, with an obvious and long-standing association to music, announced they would be undertaking a new venture — all in the name of marketing — and joined an ever-expanding list of brands that have launched private record labels in support of the music community,” according to Forbes.com.From Red Bull Records to Mountain Dew's Green Label Sound, “it has become an increasingly popular method of raising awareness around a brand or product, and an attempt at adding a certain 'cool factor' to a brand's profile,” the website reports.“We take an unknown band, that maybe would not know how to navigate the music industry, but has a lot of talent, and we do everything, soup to nuts for the band,” says Blake Smith, a Hard Rock Records executive.The deal is working for Hey Monea!, which has an album due out later this month.

Unlike a certain Crain'sSportsBiz blogger who makes his NFL predictions today, The Wall Street Journal has an upbeat outlook on the Cleveland Browns.In The Journal's Sports Retort podcast, Kevin Clark break down why he counts the Browns among the teams he thinks will surprise people this year. Hint: It's all about the defense. And new addition Paul Kruger, who's really good.You also can follow me on Twitter for more news about business and Northeast Ohio.

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